Tryouts for Team Ohio will be held online the week of February 18 (i.e. on various mutually agreeable dates between Monday, February 18 and Sunday, February 24).

Team Ohio is an all-star team that will compete against other all-star teams at the National All-Star Academic Tournament (NASAT) on June 22-23 in Lexington, Kentucky. Players who are interested in trying out should read the information below.

You will be given a link to join a Discord server. Once you are in the server, you will be given instructions for setup. Once you are set up in a packet-reading voice channel, I can read questions to you out loud and you can buzz by typing "buzz" in a text chat box, then give your answer. Discord is available to download as a mobile app and can also run on computers either through a web browser or by downloading a version for Windows, Mac, or Linux.

Who is eligible to try out?

Any middle or high school player who attends school in Ohio.

What is the question difficulty and what set are you using?

NASAT is, broadly speaking, written at collegiate difficulty in order to challenge the best players in the country. Past NASAT sets are available at quizbowlpackets.com. Our tryout will use the 2019 ILLIAC set, which is written at collegiate regular-minus difficulty. I believe this set will provide contestants with an accessible sampling of college-level questions while still distinguishing between the top players at the tryout. If you are trying out for NASAT, you are declaring that you have not played any mirror of ILLIAC, either in-person or online, and you have not been exposed to any ILLIAC questions through contact with writers, editors, or other teams. If you have been exposed to ILLIAC before this announcement was posted and you still want to try out, contact me immediately so we can figure out what to do.

Depending on how many players sign up, you will be placed in a preliminary pool and play 40 tossups over Discord. I will note who answers which questions, and I will also keep track of where players buzzed in each question ("buzzpoint"). After the preliminary rounds, a final pool of less than or equal to 8 players will be convened and 60 more tossups will be played. At the conclusion of those 60 tossups, the statistics from the final pool will determine who makes the team. All statistics will be kept in a publicly viewable online spreadsheet or other system so players will know where they stand. A link to live stats will be sent out before the tryouts begin.

How many players will make the team after tryouts? Will there be an Ohio B team?

There seems to be sufficient interest for an Ohio B team, so we will select an Ohio A and Ohio B. Each team's roster will be made up of only 4 players. If a player from Ohio A suddenly cannot attend the tournament, a player from Ohio B will be promoted. If a player for Ohio B suddenly cannot attend the tournament, we will seek out a substitute from the tryout pool or (depending on how close the tournament is) play shorthanded.

The NASAT distribution is 4/4 for literature, science, and history, 3/3 for fine arts and RMP, and 1/1 social science and geography/current events. We are therefore looking for the four players who can best cover literature, science, history, fine arts, and RMP. Note that these may not be the top four overall scorers! We are looking for players with deep knowledge in their categories who can buzz early on college-difficulty tossups.

If I make the team, what are my responsibilities?

If you earn a spot on Team Ohio and accept your place, you are committing to attend NASAT on June 22-23 in Lexington, KY. Players are responsible for arranging their own travel to NASAT (carpooling is encouraged...we can work all that out once the team is set), and for covering their hotel and other expenses. Each player will also be asked to contribute $100 to go towards the registration fee for the tournament...the Ohio NASAT program has no budget or source of funding. However, please do not let the associated cost restrict you from trying out! If you make the team and anticipate financial constraints, let me know and we will find a way to cover you.

If you are named to either team, you will be expected to maintain and improve your quizbowl skills to help Ohio have the best possible performance at NASAT. Team practices will be held online at mutually agreeable dates and times, and additional independent study is expected.

This information will also be emailed to coaches around Ohio. If you will be seeing other coaches and players between now and February 18 at league matches, tournaments, etc., please talk about NASAT and direct them to more information if they seem interested!

18 players from 14 schools have now signed up for NASAT tryouts using the Google Form linked above. The form will remain open until the end of the day this Friday, after which tryouts will be closed.

Everyone who has already registered for the tryout: you should have received an email today about your tryout date and time. If you did not receive a message from me, please let me know so I can pass on that important information.

After the tryout registration closes, a full list of participants with dates and times will be posted here.

I'll also mention that based on survey responses, the major category with the fewest specialists signed up is science...get in touch with your local science player and direct them to NASAT information!

The top participants from the first stage of tryouts will move to the final stage, which has been scheduled for Sunday, February 24. The three returning members of last year's Ohio A, Hari Parameswaran, John John Groger, and Sam Oguntoyinbo have been advanced directly to the final stage of tryouts. After the final stage, the four-person rosters for Ohio A and Ohio B will be announced. As a reminder, the tryouts are seeking to identify the players with the deepest knowledge in the main categories of the NASAT distribution. Buzzpoint statistics can and will be used to compare players in different tryout groups. The number of players advancing to the finals may vary based on who makes the best case to advance.

2. Sam Oguntoyinbo (Solon) sent a late registration to try out for NASAT after sorting out some potential conflicts. As a returning member of last year's Ohio A NASAT team, he has been placed in the Sunday final group with the other returning members from last year.

Hari Parameswaran will lead the Ohio NASAT contingent as captain of Ohio A, and I have sought his input on these roster selections to ensure they had a second set of knowledgeable eyes. All participants should check their email for additional NASAT information. Congratulations again to all players.

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